The Birds and the Bees...And Adam asking God, "What is a headache?"

Mark Twain wrote a story about Adam and Eve, and in one of the dialogues, God tells Adam to go to Eve. Adam comes back to God with a question, “What is a headache?”


Eve’s story doesn’t end with being kicked out of the Garden of Eden. We see in chapter 4 that Eve becomes a mommy. Do you remember when you found out you were going to become a mommy? Before that, do you remember the conversation you had with whomever or the book you read regarding “making babies?”

I remember hearing about the birds and the bees from my mom. Daddy had taken Lori somewhere, and mom sat down with me and went through some audiotapes by Dr. Dobson. I had never been more disgusted or mortified about something in all my life…I must have been around 12. I remember thinking, “Babies are supposed to come out where? I don’t think so.” Does this ring any bells with anyone? Remember those feelings and questions, and put yourself into Eve’s shoes…umm moccasins or sandals. No one had ever given birth before, and God is educating her on her body. When it comes time to deliver, there are no sedatives, no analgesics, no sterile environments. Were you anxious the first time you delivered? The second? The third?

Eve didn’t have women or a book telling her What to Expect When You’re Expecting. She just did it. She just went with it, and she delivered her first son, Cain.

Can you imagine the excitement there must have been? The first ever live birth, and it’s a boy. You know the parents had to be proud. You know they checked all his fingers and toes…Do you know of a parent who hasn’t? “With help of the Lord I have brought forth a man” (Gen 4:1). To God be the glory.

God is present at the consummation of a marriage. He is present when life begins in the womb. He is there when the baby takes his first breath. To be able to become pregnant and carry a baby to term to a healthy delivery is an amazing miracle. There are so many things that can go wrong with the slightest variations, so to witness a birth of a healthy child gives everyone a reason to celebrate. Having never been able to experience that miracle, I was blessed to be present when my daughter was born. Never take this gift from God for granted.

Eve was so proud of that baby. She was the momma of “a man” – sometimes I refer to my son as the boy-child or a man-baby. Boy-child because he is most definitely a boy. As my Mammaw says, “There’s no ruffles on his britches.” And Man-baby because he has always preferred being with men…ALWAYS. When he could sit in a buggy, I’d take him to Wal-Mart or Target and the women would just fall all over him. He just looked at him with those dark, brown eyes piercing a hole right through them. BUT, if you took him to Lowe’s or Home Depot, he was all smiles, trying to shake every old man’s hand that walked by. Eve was proud of her boy.

After Cain was born, then came Abel. Just reading about their births in Genesis 4:1-2, I see a difference in how Eve responded to the birth of Abel. Do you? “Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.” She didn’t mention God. She didn’t mention Abel’s maleness or manhood. Just an observation. Did she play favorites to Cain because he was her first? Did she allow him to get away with things that maybe she didn’t allow the others to get away with? Did Cain have entitlement issues? Just curious.

Eve went on to have other children. She had daughters that aren’t necessarily named, and she could have had other male children. We do know that she had one more son named “Seth.” Seth was seen as being a replacement to Abel according to the Scripture.

While we don’t know exactly what all transpired from Eve’s perspective, we do know that she had heart ache. She grieved the loss of her two sons – one to death and one to God’s punishment.

Oh how Eve’s life was forever altered by making one bad choice. Let’s play the “What If” game.

• What if Eve had chosen to eat from the tree of life, what would have happened to the tree of knowledge of good and evil?

• What if Eve had chosen to eat from the tree of life and had her babies in Eden? What would her legacy be to her children?

• By introducing sin to her husband, she introduced it to the generations to follow. What if she had thought about them before herself?

It’s easy to look back and see a bad decision or bad choice, but it’s often difficult to see one when you are in the middle and being pressed to make a decision. I think the lesson I learned from Eve is that I have to walk with God every day and listen for His voice. He loves me, and I have to trust that. What have you learned from studying Eve? Anything you can apply to your life? I hope so. It’s in the Bible for a reason.